At The Intersection of Happy Valleys and Rainbows

Friends are a wonderful thing to have in life, and I don't think we spend enough time appreciating them.
A wise person once said that God gave us friends because we don't get to choose our families. Friends are the family we get to pick.

I turned 22 recently, and to kick off my 22nd year, I'd like to say a few thank yous:

Thank you to my daring and adventurous friend Nidi, who braved 2 feet of snow, icy temperatures, and over 200 miles of driving in 24 hours to go camping with me last weekend. You are a badass, and I am so happy to have you as an adventure buddy. More adventures in the future!

Thank you to my wonderful friends who rallied together to make my birthday special. I am thoroughly appreciative of the gifts, the warm wishes, the good times, (the good beer!), and for y'all being there for me when my family was not able to be. Thank you for tolerating my cooking and working with my schedule despite the delays brought on by the snow. You all rock, and I will never stop loving you and being thankful for having you in my life. 

Thank you to Emily and Evan, for the wonderful gift and for always being there. I love you guys so much! Thanks to Danielle, for driving all the way up to see me on her days off work. Thanks to Kelly, my wonderful roommate, for helping me learn how to cook real food and being the best roommate ever! Thanks to Brian, for being an awesome friend who's always there for me and always down to bojangle*!

 My first grown up dinner. Ina Garten's perfectly roasted chicken!

 ...and for dessert, fresh ripe pineapple soaked in coconut rum!

Thanks to Gill and Grace, for being extra awesome and tromping through the ice and snow to hike a frozen Crabtree Falls with me on my day off.

Enjoying victory cookies at the icy summit

Thank you to all the friends who couldn't be with me for my birthday, but still took a moment to reach out across the distances and extend a little love my way. I hope you feel the love I'm sending back at you!

Thank you to Ducky, for always being down for whatever adventure I throw her way, and for being just fun to be around in general! I am never bored when I'm hanging out with you. Thanks for that sweet bike ride in the brief glimpse of spring weather we saw just a few days ago. And thanks for always looking out for me, Mama Duck!

Oh and thanks for the idea for the title of this blog post!

Finally, if not most importantly, thank you to my family. I was sad I couldn't be near you on my birthday, but I felt you there in spirit! Thank you for the wonderful gifts and the lovely pre-birthday celebration, and for everything you have done for me over the last 22 years. Rest assured I was well taken care of while you were away, despite missing you dearly!

You all make me stronger!

*Definition - bojangle: to intentionally divert from the original plan/trail with the goal of doing something awesome, crazy, and likely somewhat dangerous; side effects may include minor wounds and emotional scarring, amazing pictures, and great stories.

"Pura Vida": Living Positive

I want to say a few words about negativity today, specifically in the form of complaining.

I spent some time in Costa Rica recently. Two weeks to be exact.
I was participating in a volunteer medical team of physical therapy students.
Our job was to go into communities in the outskirts of San Jose and provide medical services to people who didn't have a lot of access to health care.

A little about the Tico people: they are wonderful. And moreover, they are wonderful cooks!
A person could literally live to be 150 years old on a diet of rice, beans, and fresh pineapple.
We stayed with nuns at a tiny little convent with a quaint retreat center in the outskirts of the city of Alajuela.

They were the sweetest little ladies, averaging at about 4 feet in height.
Every morning they picked us fresh tropical fruits from the garden and made us juice.
They didn't speak a lick of English, and we didn't speak a lick of Spanish, but fortunately gratitude and kindness are universal languages.

The communities we went to were shanty villages mostly, houses built from aluminum sheaths and crude concrete.

It smelled bad in most places, and there was a ton of bugs.
There was garbage and broken glass in the streets where the kids were playing.
Mangey, matted dogs ambled along the edges of the asphalt.
Most houses had barbed wire and iron cages protecting the entrances.
The people we met with during house calls looked so stressed out. Many had the same kinds of stories. Multiple kids, abusive marriages, sick relatives, single mother trying to balance work with caring for her family, teen pregnancies, etc etc.
On one intake interview we asked a woman the standard medical history question, "Tiene depresion?" or "Do you have depression?" and she answered "I don't have time to be depressed."
The most common ailment we saw was pain in the neck and shoulders. People carry all their stress in their upper traps.
The people we saw came in with these hard looks on their faces. We'd talk to them, mostly listen to them, give them a few exercises to do to prevent pain, give them a good solid massage, and basically just give them a little of the TLC that society has neglected of them for most of their lives. They would walk out of that clinic looking like different people, so much lighter, their faces much softer. I was invited to stay with a number of families if I should ever choose to return to Costa Rica. One woman ran home and shortly returned with an enormous pitcher of fresh pineapple juice for us as a thank you. There was so much love and thankfulness in that clinic, from them and from us as well. Serving others brings that kind of happiness out in people. As I said, gratitude and kindness are universal languages.

What I found most profound about my time in Costa Rica is best illuminated in the words of one teammate of mine. We left the shanty village on one of the hottest and longest days of work of the entire trip. We all crammed onto our little bus and rode back to the convent. The rooms we stayed in were small, but sufficient, and the bathrooms were basic. Most of the time the hot water knobs didn't work for the shower. As we unloaded from the bus, my teammate said "Oh my gosh, I just can't stand it if I have to take another ice cold shower! This is the worst!"

How is it that in this day and age we can be so ungrateful? How can we not recognize how lucky we are to have what we have, especially when we are juxtaposed with those who have so much less? When was the last time you were a little chilly, and instead of fussing about it you just accepted that you don't always get to be warm in life, choosing to be grateful for warmth the next time you have it. When was the last time your stomach growled, and you took a moment to appreciate the opportunity to be hungry, to appreciate the times when you were satiated. For the love of God people, are we so blind as to not see our blessings as they are laid out right in front of our eyes?

Anybody who knows me personally knows I am an advocate of positivity. I believe that negativity drags others down. Think about it: does anyone really enjoy listening to others complain? But we all do it! And so often! Why can't we just find a little contentment? Why can't we be like the sloth, living "in perfect harmony with its environment...a good-natured smile forever on its lips."

Yes, that is a real sloth that I met in Costa Rica. He took the time to leisurely gaze my way in the middle of his afternoon nap, smiling peacefully from his perch 8 feet up in a sour guava tree.

Elizabeth Gilbert said in her memoir, Eat Pray Love, that finding contentment in life is "not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world." Obliterating the negativity in your life "gets you out of the way...you cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else." Only then can you be free to enjoy life. Gilbert also says of contentment that it can only be attained through conscious, personal effort.

So tell me. What are you doing to eliminate the negativity in your life?

COMPLAINT FREE WORLD